Xfinity Ending Long-Term NASCAR Deal After 2025
What’s Happening? Xfinity, the title sponsor of NASCAR’s secondary series, the Xfinity Series, will end its title sponsorship at the conclusion…
Xfinity will end its 11-year sponsorship of NASCAR’s secondary Series at season’s end. The Comcast-owned telecom company began sponsoring the Series in 2015, and its departure leaves NASCAR with two routes for the future of the Series branding. Here’s a look at those options.
Since 2015, Xfinity has been the Title Sponsor of what is considered the secondary NASCAR National Series. They are the fourth title sponsor of the Series, which previously had title sponsors Budweiser (1982-1983), Busch (1984-2007), and Nationwide Insurance (2008-2014).
Xfinity will end its deal after this season. However, it will remain in the sport as one of the NASCAR Cup Series premier partners and as a sponsor of the new Xfinity Fastest Lap,” which awards one point to the driver with the fastest lap in each race.
NASCAR introduced the Premier Partner program in 2020 to replace the traditional Title Sponsor model at the Cup Series level. This program removed the traditional “Winston,” “Nextel,” “Sprint,” or “Monster Energy” branding and simplified the series to just “the NASCAR Cup Series.”
The Xfinity Series, unlike the Cup or Truck Series, has never had an “informal” name. While fans would call the Cup Series “the Cup Series” no matter the title sponsor and the Craftsman Truck Series “the Truck Series,” most call this secondary series by the sponsor’s name, or the Busch Series, as it had the longest tenure as sponsor.
What’s Happening? Xfinity, the title sponsor of NASCAR’s secondary series, the Xfinity Series, will end its title sponsorship at the conclusion…
This route is the one most fans online seem content with. However, this appears to be due to the thought of Busch Beer returning to the title sponsorship.
The return of Busch would make the world right again in the eyes of some fans and even a few drivers. Of course, many still refer to the series as the Busch Series. The brand has taken on the role of a Generic Trademark, such as Kleenex with tissues or Band-Aids for bandages.
Since 2016, Busch’s parent company, Anheuser-Busch, has re-invigorated the brand’s involvement in NASCAR. This is through the sponsorship of Kevin Harvick and Ross Chastain and the re-sponsorship of the Clash, which they initially sponsored from 1979 to 1997 and lasted from 2020 to 2024.
While this would be exciting, there could be other options NASCAR should consider.
If NASCAR utilizes the title sponsor route for the series once again, a consumer brand, such as Busch, would be the best-case scenario. For example, a lesser-known company would be difficult for teams to sell to sponsors. NASCAR is a great place for these smaller companies to grow their brand. However, on-car sponsors want to pair their brands with well-known public brands such as Nationwide and Xfinity.
If a large “family-friendly” brand, such as Kroger or Bass Pro Shops, to name a few already in the sport, took the mantle, it could benefit the series’ teams more.
If NASCAR fails to find a suitable replacement, the Premier Partners route could see its second introduction in NASCAR. As previously stated, this route sees the series take on a universal or generic name. This is allowed to happen as NASCAR would bring on multiple sponsors for the Series known as “Premier Partners.” Though the Cup Series took on this format in 2020, it is the only NASCAR series that has used this method.
When Camping World left the Truck Series following the 2022 season, NASCAR opted for the traditional title sponsorship model. With Craftsman, the series’s initial sponsor, returning to the role. However, the Xfinity Series has a cult-like following of its own, potentially meaning NASCAR could take the premier partner route.
The main problem here would be piecing together enough premier partners to support the series. However, there is an easy problem with this route as well.
The Xfinity Series has yet to have a commonly used or “generic” name aside from the Busch Series. When finding a generic or interchangeable name, two factors need to be kept in mind. First, the name should have a historical context for the series, and second, the title cannot appear to eclipse the Cup Series as NASCAR’s top division.
What’s Happening NASCAR is losing a major sponsor from its list of Premier Partners. Geico, the insurance company, will depart its…
For this issue, fans, industry members, and content creators have suggested the “Grand National Series.” This is a reference to the series’ use of Busch Grand National Series, which lasted from 1984 to 2002.
This suggestion may also stem from gaming. Due to age restrictions, the Busch Series was referred to as the Grand National Series in the EA Sports line of NASCAR games. Some problems with this name are the potential for historical and divisional confusion. The Cup Series was called the “Grand National” from 1950 to 1971. Furthermore, the term could sound more important than the Cup Series.
While this is a problem, a deeper dive into Xfinity Series history could supply the right name. What is now the Xfinity Series grew from what was the NASCAR Sportsman Division. This title remained as the tagline for the Series when it became the NASCAR Late Model Sportsman Division in 1968. It remained through Budweiser’s sponsorship and ended with the introduction of Busch in 1984.
While the name would be longer than just “Cup” or “Trucks,” the simple use of the term “Sportsman” could be a happy medium for all parties involved. Of course, this would only happen if NASCAR took the premier partners’ route.
The final season of the Xfinity Series kicks off in less than two weeks. But this time next year, all these questions will be answered as one of NASCAR’s most historically impactful series enters a new era.
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